Nyon Conference

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Nyon Conference
Lord Chatfield and Sir Robert Vansittart.
Date10 September 1937 (1937-09-10)–
14 September 1937 (1937-09-14)
CitiesNyon, Switzerland
Participants

The Nyon Conference was a

Italy had been carrying out unrestricted submarine warfare, although the final conference agreement did not accuse Italy directly; instead, the attacks were referred to as "piracy" by an unidentified body. Italy was not officially at war, nor did any submarine identify itself. The conference was designed to strengthen non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. The United Kingdom and France led the conference, which was also attended by Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Turkey, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
.

The first agreement, signed on 14 September 1937, included plans to counterattack aggressive submarines. Naval patrols were established; the United Kingdom and France were to patrol most of the western Mediterranean and parts of the east, and the other signatories were to patrol their own waters. Italy was to be allowed to join the agreement and patrol the

Non-Intervention Committee and the League of Nations
, this conference succeeded in preventing attacks by submarines.

Nyon has been characterised as "an appeasers paradise. The fiction that attacks on merchant shipping in the Mediterranean was the fault of 'pirates unknown' was fully indulged. [It] preserved the naval status quo in the Mediterranean until the end of the

Francoists received whatever they wanted, the Republicans got very little."[1]

Context and organisation

The

British Prime Minister, and adopted a new policy of dealing directly with Germany and Italy.[5] The British believed they could convince Italy to abandon Germany through appeasement.[6]

Under a Non-Intervention Committee plan, neutral observers were posted to Spanish ports and borders.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden's sceptical stance towards Italy.[14] The attack led the British representative in Rome to protest to the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, but without response.[12]

Up to 60,000 Italian volunteers were then operating in Spain,

Lord Halifax, Leader of the House of Lords and influential politician, over the issue, any agreement recognising Italian sovereignty was postponed until after the planned shipping conference had taken place.[21]

On 5 or 6 September, the British arranged a conference for all parties with a Mediterranean coastline, along with Germany.

French Prime Minister, opposed direct intervention on the Spanish question.[25] The Soviet Union accepted the invitation, indicating that it would use the opportunity to blame Italy for the attacks on shipping.[26] The Soviet government formally accused the Italians of sinking two Soviet merchant vessels, the Timiryazev and the Blagoev,[27] an accusation the Italians described as "aggressive and offensive".[28] This was perhaps an attempt by the Soviet Union to push Italy and Germany away from the conference.[27] Germany rejected the invitation, stating that piracy and other issues the conference was to discuss should be handled only by normal meetings of the Non-Intervention Committee, not a conference like Nyon.[29] The United Kingdom and France rejected this suggestion, and continued to prepare for the conference.[27][29] Soon after, the Italians similarly declined. The Non-Intervention Committee, it said, also had the advantage of including other European powers, notably Poland and Portugal.[30]

Provisions

Aegean patrols. This was, perhaps surprisingly, accepted by the Soviet Union.[32]

The conference ended on 14 September with the signing of the "Mediterranean Agreement". Signatories were the countries of Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Greece, Romania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the USSR and Yugoslavia. The agreement noted attacks on neutral shipping by submarines, in contravention of the London Naval Treaty (signed in 1930) and the Submarine Protocol, part of the Second London Naval Treaty (signed in 1936).[33]

The agreement provided that any submarine that attacked neutral shipping was to be sunk if possible, including submarines in the vicinity of a recent attack that were determined to be responsible for the attack.

shipping routes.[33] The agreement repeated the suggestion that Italy join in the proposal.[35] Delbos announced that similar proposals about surface craft would be prepared. The provisions of the agreement would come into force on 20 September.[32] The British and French knew that the secret Italian submarine operations had already been paused,[31] but actions to enforce the conference agreement started at midnight on 19/20 September.[32] The delegates to the agreement were happy; The Times likened them to cricketers, "reviewing their innings, over by over".[32][36]

The French and British naval staffs moved to Geneva, where a second agreement was signed on 17 September 1937.

Ernle Chatfield wanted the Spanish parties to be able to verify that the flag a ship was displaying was correct, thereby preventing attacks on British shipping if Republican ships continued to use the British flag as a means of escape. This would have benefited the Nationalists, and the French insisted that this provision be dropped. Greece and Turkey wanted ships with a clear identifying mark to be excluded, so as to avoid being forced to fire on a German or Italian warship. This was rejected, but an amendment was made allowing nations to issue their preferred orders in their own territorial waters.[37] A suggestion to fire at any attacking aircraft was easily passed. Another suggestion on surface ships (which incorrectly stated no attack had yet been proven) was eventually toughened with the addition of a clause stating aggressors would be attacked, at the request of the French. A Soviet proposal strengthening the effect of the agreement was made.[37]

Aftermath

Neville Chamberlain in September 1938

Meanwhile, on 13 September, Italy was invited to join in the agreement.

Anglo-Italian Agreements of 1938.[38]

The patrols were a strain on the Royal Navy and the provisions were relaxed with French agreement, effective from January. Submarine activity soon returned and full patrols were resumed in early February.[46] On the whole, submarine activity during this period did not amount to much; patrols were again relaxed in May, and the agreement suspended in August.[47] The success of the conference was in marked contrast to the failure of the Non-Intervention Committee.[48] The Nationalists and Italians switched to using air power against shipping;[47] at least one ship was sunk off the Spanish coast by aircraft in the final months of 1937.[46]

In the United Kingdom, Eden described the submarine attacks as savage. He also noted that attacks on submarines would be restricted to suitably extreme circumstances and that the two parties in the war would still not be able to engage neutral vessels.[35] He was keen to avoid an "Anglo-Franco-Soviet bloc".[49] The British press was in favour of the agreement, although The Times and The Guardian expressed some concerns.[50] British historians have tended to see the Nyon Conference as an important stand against aggression, with some reservations. Christopher Seton-Watson describes it as a "diplomatic victory",[51] but Jill Edwards points out that it failed to achieve a change in Italian policy.[52] The agreement created further divisions between Eden as foreign minister and Neville Chamberlain as prime minister.[52]

British Ambassador to the Soviet Union, reported that the Soviets considered the conference with "tempered satisfaction", and that they claimed credit for their delegation's role.[53]

Elsewhere, French public opinion was strongly in favour of the outcome of the conference,[50] the only criticism coming from the far left that Republican ships would not receive direct protection.[54] The German mood was restrained, where the press were satisfied by the Soviet exclusion from patrols.[55] In Spain, the Republicans – on the verge of disaster – were largely in favour, and the Nationalists strongly against.[41] The Republicans praised the improved safety of the shipping routes, but were somewhat unhappy that belligerent rights had not been granted to both sides.[56] The Nationalists made several complaints, including one over the route recommended to shipping, but none of these resulted in changes to the agreement.[41] The agreement was welcomed by other members of the League of Nations.[36] Italian historians tend to downplay the importance of the Nyon Conference, often seeing it as a mere extension of the Non-Intervention Committee.[51]

Notes

  1. ^ Michael Alpert, "Contrasting Ways of War in Spain, 1936–39", War in History, 6/3 (1999), pp. 331–51; Dominic Tierney, "Franklin D. Roosevelt and Covert Aid to the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–39", Journal of Contemporary History, 39 (2004), pp. 299–313; The Bitter Sea, by Simon Ball, p. 14.
  2. ^ a b Gretton (1975). p. 103.
  3. ^ Stone (1997). p. 134.
  4. ^ a b Frank (1987). pp. 390–391.
  5. ^ Mills (1993). p. 1.
  6. ^ Thomas (1961). pp. 475–476.
  7. ^ Thomas (1961). p. 394.
  8. ^ Thomas (1961). p. 395.
  9. ^ Thomas (1961). p. 457.
  10. ^ Bulletin of International News (August 1937). pp. 4–5.
  11. ^ Bulletin of International News (August 1937). p. 7.
  12. ^ a b c d Gretton (1975). p. 105.
  13. ^ a b Gretton (1975). p. 104.
  14. ^ Mills (1993). p. 12.
  15. ^ Alpert (1998). p. 115.
  16. ^ Bulletin of International News (August 1937). pp. 11–12.
  17. ^ Thomas (1961). p. 340.
  18. ^ Alpert (1998). p. 104.
  19. ^ Thomas (1961). p. 457.
  20. ^ Bulletin of International News (August 1937). pp. 7–8.
  21. ^ Mills (1993). pp. 10–13.
  22. ^ a b c Gretton (1975). p. 106.
  23. ^ a b Thomas (1961). p. 475.
  24. ^ "Portugal's Claim To A Place At Nyon". The Times. London. 13 September 1937. p. 11.
  25. ^ Mills (1993). p. 13.
  26. ^ "Soviet Acceptance: Accusation of Italy Demanded". The Times. London. 8 September 1937. p. 12.
  27. ^ a b c d e f Thomas (1961). p. 476.
  28. ^ "The Meeting at Nyon". The Times. London. 8 September 1937. p. 12.
  29. ^ a b "Nyon Plan Declined". The Times. London. 9 September 1937. p. 12.
  30. ^ "Italy and Nyon". The Times. London. 10 September 1937. p. 11.
  31. ^ a b c Gretton (1975). p. 107.
  32. ^ a b c d e Gretton (1975). p. 108.
  33. ^ a b c d e Bulletin of International News (September 1937). p. 12.
  34. ^ "Success at Nyon". The Times. London, United Kingdom. 13 September 1937. p. 13.
  35. ^ a b c Bulletin of International News (September 1937). p. 13.
  36. ^ a b "Last touches at Nyon". The Times. London. 14 September 1937. p. 12.
  37. ^ a b c Gretton (1975). p. 109.
  38. ^ a b Thomas (1961). pp. 476–477.
  39. ^ Schindler, Toman (1988). pp. 887, 890.
  40. ^ "Invitation Handed To Italy". The Times. London, United Kingdom. 14 September 1937. p. 12.
  41. ^ a b c d Gretton (1975). p. 110.
  42. ^ Bulletin of International News (September 1937). p. 14.
  43. ^ "A Conditional Refusal: 'Absolute Parity' Needed". The Times. London. 15 September 1937. p. 12.
  44. ^ "Mediterranean Patrol: Experts' Agreement Signed". The Times. London. 1 October 1937. p. 16.
  45. ^ Gretton (1975). p. 111.
  46. ^ a b Gretton (1975). pp. 111–112.
  47. ^ a b Buchanan (1997). pp. 59–60.
  48. ^ Gretton (1975). p. 112.
  49. ^ Lammers (1971). p. 173.
  50. ^ a b Gretton (1975). pp. 109–110.
  51. ^ a b Mills (1993). p. 3.
  52. ^ a b Mills (1993). p. 4.
  53. ^ Lammers (1971). p. 172.
  54. The Manchester Guardian
    . Manchester. 13 September 1937. p. 12.
  55. ^ "German Press and Nyon Conference". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester. 13 September 1937. p. 12.
  56. ^ "Valencia Welcomes The Trade Route Patrol". The Times. London. 15 September 1937. p. 11.

Sources

Books
Journals
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